We Were Several Hours Before We Could Reach The Outskirts Of The Town Beyond The Moabede, So Great Was The Crowd Of Camels; And Many Accidents Happened.

Of the half-naked hadjys, all dressed in the white ihram, some sat reading the Koran upon their camels; some ejaculated loud prayers; whilst others cursed their drivers, and quarrelled with those near them, who were choking up the passage.

Beyond the town the road widens, and we passed on through the valleys, at a very slow march, for two hours, to Wady Muna, in the narrow entrance of which great confusion again occurred. The law enjoins that the hadjys shall recite five prayers at Muna, Mohammed having always done so; that is to say, that they shall arrive there at noon, in time for the mid-day prayer, and remaining

[p.265] until the next morning, shall perform the prayers of the Aszer, of Mogreb, and of Ashe, and that of the dawn on the ensuing day. The inconvenience, however, arising from a delay on the route has led to the neglect of this precept for some time past; and the Hadj now passes Muna, on its way to Arafat, without halting.

In advance of Muna, we had the mosque of Mozdelife to our right, whither many pilgrims went to recite the Salat el Aszer and Salat el Mogreb; but the caravan continued its march. Beyond Mozdelife, we again entered the mountains by the pass called El Mazoumeyn, on the eastern side of which we issued towards the plain of Arafat. Here the pilgrims passed between the two pillars called Alameyn, and, on approaching the vicinity of Djebel Arafat, dispersed over the plain in search of their place of encampment. I reached the camp about three hours after sun-set; but the last stragglers did not arrive till midnight. Numberless fires were seen lighted on an extent of ground of three or four miles in length; and high and brilliant clusters of lamps marked the different places of encampment of Mohammed Aly, Soleyman Pasha, and the Emir el Hadj of the Egyptian caravan. Hadjys were seen in every direction wandering among the tents in search of their companions, whom they had lost in the confusion on the road; and it was several hours before the noise and clamour had subsided. Few persons slept during that night: the devotees sat up praying, and their loud chants were particularly distinguished on the side of the Syrian encampment; the merry Mekkawys formed themselves into parties, singing the jovial songs called djok, accompanied by clapping of hands; and the coffee-houses scattered over the plain were crowded the whole night with customers.

The night was dark and cold, and a few drops of rain fell. I had formed a resting-place for myself by means of a large carpet tied to the back part of a Mekkawy's tent; and having walked about for the greater part of the night, I had just disposed myself to sleep, when two guns, fired by the Syrian and Egyptian Hadj, announced the approaching dawn of the day of pilgrimage, and summoned the faithful to prepare for their morning prayers.

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